Cuba’s Tropical Fruit Industry

Cuba’s tropical fruit industry primarily caters to domestic markets with fresh fruits that are Cuban diet staples. Plantains and bananas account for over 70 percent of production. Tropical fruit production fell with Cuba’s collapsing economy in the early 1990s. With ideal climate and land resources, production potential remains high. Production and demand will both recover and grow as Cuba’s economy recovers. If commercial relationships with the United States were restored, Cuba could initially look to U.S. sources for quality tropical fruits for Cuba’s growing tourist market. Eventually, as Cuba’s economy and its tropical fruit sector recover, the United States could provide new market opportunities for an increasingly competitive Cuban tropical fruit sector.

by William E. Kost, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service